Texas State professor's property targeted by feds

Updated 11:31 pm, Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Photo: Texas State University

Image 1of/3

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 3

Sindy Chapa

Sindy Chapa

Photo: Texas State University

Image 2 of 3

The home of Sindy Chapa. IRS agents are seeking forfeiture of a Texas State professor's house as part of a money laundering probe. They're going after the home of Sindy Chapa, 37, a professor of journalism and mass communication. They're also going after a house in McAllen. The feds' reasoning for seeking the property is in a sealed document, and Chapa has not been charged with a crime, but the case is apparently part of the ongoing investigation into the alleged money laundering activities of Tomas Yarrington, the former governor of Tamaulipas.

The home of Sindy Chapa. IRS agents are seeking forfeiture of a Texas State professor's house as part of a money laundering probe. They're going after the home of Sindy Chapa, 37, a professor of journalism and

The home of Sindy Chapa on 1019 Fairway,Kyle, TX . IRS agents are seeking forfeiture of a Texas State professorâ€™s house as part of a money laundering probe. Theyâ€™re going after the home of Sindy Chapa, 37, a professor of journalism and mass communication. Theyâ€™re also going after a house in McAllen. The fedsâ€™ reasoning for seeking the property is in a sealed document, and Chapaâ€™s not been charged with a crime, but the case is apparently part of the ongoing investigation into the alleged money laundering activities of Tomas Yarrington, the former governor of Tamaulipas. Ashley Landis/Special to Express-News less

The home of Sindy Chapa on 1019 Fairway,Kyle, TX . IRS agents are seeking forfeiture of a Texas State professorâ€™s house as part of a money laundering probe. Theyâ€™re going after the home of Sindy ... more

Photo: Ashley Landis/Special To Express

Texas State professor's property targeted by feds

1 / 3

Back to Gallery

Federal prosecutors are trying to take two homes of a Texas State University professor as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation.

Chapa hasn't been charged with a crime, and an affidavit by an Internal Revenue Service agent explaining why the feds think they should have the house has been sealed. But in the public court filings, prosecutors allege the property was bought with proceeds of criminal activity.

Prosecutors are also seeking forfeiture of a house Chapa owns in McAllen.

Chapa said Wednesday she was unaware of the filings.

“I don't have any information about that,” she said.

Chapa, who has degrees from universities in Mexico and the U.S., joined Texas State in 2008 and won the university's 2011-12 Presidential Award for Excellence in Service. A Texas State spokesman said the university was unaware of an investigation.

Most Popular

The house in Kyle, in the Plum Creek neighborhood, is valued at $272,910 and the house in McAllen is valued at $357,441, according to appraisal district records.

It's not unusual for San Antonio prosecutors to seal affidavits outlining why they want property forfeited, but in recent high-profile cases, the owners have been out of the country. This is a rare situation in which the property owner is in the U.S. and could potentially contest the forfeiture.

Last year, federal agents began a series of investigations targeting alleged money laundering in San Antonio and South Texas. At the top of their list has been Tomás Yarrington Ruvalcaba, the former mayor of the border city of Matamoros and ex-governor of Tamaulipas, the Mexican state that stretches along the Texas border from Laredo to Brownsville.

A Mexican Web site, Columna Tamaulipas, has identified Chapa as an ex-girlfriend of Yarrington.

Sources confirmed investigators in the U.S. have received similar information about that prior relationship, leading agents to claim that the houses were obtained with illegal proceeds.

Yarrington's Houston-based attorney, Joel Androphy, decried the government for sealing the affidavits, claiming it prevents anyone from questioning the truthfulness of the agents' sources of information.

“They're protecting the identity so we cannot question the person's credibility,” Androphy said.

He did not agree with the alleged relationship between Yarrington and Chapa.

“What does that have to do with the criminal allegations?” Androphy asked. “When they spend time trying to tarnish one's personal life, it causes you to question the credibility of their allegations. It has nothing to do with the credibility of their criminal case.”

Prosecutors in South Texas have alleged in court documents that Yarrington took millions of dollars in bribes from drug cartels and laundered them in Texas. As part of that investigation, they're seeking forfeiture of 46 acres on San Antonio's North Side.

Androphy said Yarrington left the U.S. earlier this year at the request of the government because his immigration status allowing him here had expired.

“The bottom line is they're spending a lot of time making general allegations against a gentleman that they asked to leave the country,” Androphy said. “And then they turn around and start making these allegations. It's illogical you would allow someone to leave the country when they are under criminal investigation. The timing of the government's request that he leave the country and the timing of the allegations suggest they have no support.”

“He never ran from the government. He'd still be here today if the government had not asked him to leave.”

Asked where Yarrington is now, Androphy said he never keeps up with any of his clients' itineraries.

Yarrington has not been charged with a crime in the U.S. and has maintained his innocence, but last week a Mexican judge issued a warrant for his arrest. He remains a fugitive.